KALAMAZOO, MI -- There is no shortage of young, local filmmakers willing to push the boundaries of the medium and catch an audience off-guard.

Stewart Fritz, the Lead Librarian for Teen Services at the Kalamazoo Public Library and the organizer of the 10th annual Teen Filmmaker Festival, saw the evidence first-hand as he, and other organizers, viewed around 125 films over three days from directors ages 13 to 18.

The submissions were narrowed down to 28 finalists who will compete in nine award categories at the event at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 24 at the Kalamazoo State Theatre. Admission is free.

"There's a huge range of styles. All the films were great
when you take into account they're made by teenagers, but there are some of the
28 that are absolutely stunning," Fritz said.

Fritz, who has been part of the festival for the last five years, said the field includes fantasy, horror and animation, but there were several documentaries submitted. Typically, the event draws one documentary. Two made the final 28 and they displayed "a lot of attention to detail and care taken with the subject."

"It was neat to see," he said. "You usually don't see teenagers get that involved with real life."

Fritz and the panel that selected the finalists looked at cinematography and the quality of writing to determine the best submissions.

"Several of the directors we got films from have mastered
the techniques and chose shots that are visually stunning as well as convey
message of the film," he said.

There were also several surprises from the films, which range from two to 10 minutes in length.

“There are some I hesitate to classify at all because they’re so weird ... There are some that take the medium and run with it and do some odd things – definitely caught us off guard,” he said.

Kevin Park, the president of Campaign Pictures and the writer/director/producer of several locally-produced films, will serve as master of ceremonies. The films will be juried by three judges:

James Sanford, the former Kalamazoo Gazette film reviewer who is now an arts and culture writer at the Battle Creek Enquirer, as well as a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society.

Selam Ghirmai,a promotional agent at the Michigan Film Office and liaison for the Michigan Film and Digital Media Incentive Prgroam.

Zach Terry, a director and film student who won People's Choice, Judge's Choice and Best Film at the festival from 2007-2011. The 20-year-old Mattawan native is now at the Tisch School for the Arts at New York University.

The festival, previously held at the Rave Cityplace 14 in downtown Kalamazoo, scrambled to find a new home for the event at Rave closed earlier this winter. Fritz said the partnership with the State Theatre should help elevate the event.

"If it works out well this year, I can't see why we wouldn't do it there again," he said.